Watched the second (of 3) episode of the excellent BBC documentary series The Power of Nightmares yesterday. It follows the parallel progress of neo-conservatism in america and islamic fundamentalist terrorism in the middle-east.

Not only does it clearly lay out the facts and gives a really interesting account of the, often overlapping, history of both movements (something I only had the loosest grasp of) but it also gives a context to the actions of these people now.

It is a very good programme, completely in line with the idea of public service broadcasting and not just a vehicle for some intense faced academic with ambitions of fame (Starkey take note!). It’s informative, lucid, logical and above all it’s important. Make sure you catch the last episode next wednesday.